Level 14 - Crucible
Quest Giver: Jorgundal ar’Grund in Gianthold
Level: 14 Party
Patron: Agents of Argonnessen (8/16/24)
Length: very long
Entry Point: northern gianhold ruins
Prereqs: none
Recommended Party: Atleast 1 instant kill from a distance caster (PK, Finger, Destruction), Atleast 1 evasion type, Someone who can cast Freedom of Movement, Haste, Jump. Atleast 4 people in party to simplify doing the maze. Diplomacy, bluff and intimidate for optionals.
Base Experience: 14,452
Quest Info:
--Creatures: hobgoblins, orcs, gnolls, mephits
--Traps: blades, spikes, falling floors, fire and ice

Walkthrough:

Really great map by Dorim: The Crucible Map

First off, the optionals at the front. You will want a diplomacy, bluff and an intimidate person for these. First, high diplomacy (24+ on elite) speak to Daggertooth. He will give you a map. Next, talk to Vrall the Fearless, also diplomacy (24+ on elite). You will convince him to kill off his partner, the healer Harza Ghost-Waker. This makes the last fight much easier. Now speak to Gorn Gut-Chewer with Intimidate (24+) first off, delivering the map from Daggertooth does not require a skill check. It will make it so the floors in a hall ahead have already fallen out, it will also eliminate a few of the orcs from that fight. The intimidate check will get him to give you a hint about a hidden treasure, and a good way to deal with the trap, just set your hated enemies into it before you. On that note, go back and chat with Daggertooth. Bluff him into searching out the treasure first, and you won’t need to get poisoned to find the key.

Now that the optionals are taken care of, buff up and head in to the first challenge. The maze. Here is a map I made quite awhile ago to assist you on getting through. There are some prettier maps out there, but this one gets the job done.

 
Maze Map

A note about the crests in the maze: the crests are always in the same three places, but which type of crest is there will change. The sockets always remain the same. The star on the map marks a chest.

In the middle of the maze is a horn. Picking up the horn will cause several traps to go off and the floor to fall out. A rogue can disarm the traps, but the floor will always fall out. Be careful of the spikes.

After moving out, put the horn in place and head through the door. There is a strong current you have to swim against to get up to the next hallway. If you send one person underwater down the current, there is an alcove to the right that contains a valve that will turn off the current.

Moving up will get you to another hall with gates, and a kobold at the end. Have your diplo person speak with the kobold to get him to steal Daggertooth’s armor before the end fight. Then buff your evasion people with jump and haste, and send them into the room. Everyone else go hang out by the other door and wait.

Note: once someone alive is in the room, the doors lock, in order to open them again everyone must be out. If someone is standing on the little gate edge on the outside, the quest will see them as being inside. Hop down to open the gate.

This is a test of speed and jumping and dodging traps. Make it up and around and through the door before it closes, grab the horn, let everyone in to the shrine. Head further up to the test of instinct. Send only one person forward. If more people are near the book it seems to mess this up. Have your evasion person walk up to the book and inspect it, taking time to notice the roman numerals on the floor at each door. The book will give you a hint. Very quickly move to the door the hint implies and open it. If you chose right, the horn will be inside. A common tactic here is to ignore the book, have your evasion person pick a door and open it repeatedly until the horn is inside. Just be sure to have everyone stand back, heals to the ready.

Next you will have to work your way across the top of the maze. This is where you will want jump, freedom of movement and featherfall. The gnolls cast sleetstorm. Also, resist acid, lightning and cold are good. If your casters have them, use instant kill spells on the gnolls. They have low fort saves and will heal themselves, makin it tough to kill them with damage. Work your way across the maze. Put a person in each corner at a puzzle wheel. When ready, pull the lever by the gate to get the puzzle code. From left to right are the puzzle symbols representing the amounts of turn a wheel will need, from 0-5. So when you pull the lever, if blue is in the 3rd position, red is in 5th and green 6th, you would have blue turn twice, red four times and green 5. Or just describe the symbols.

Now up to the super swim. This is the heavy current underwater river you swam in before, just further up stream. Send in your evasion people and wait. Or, send one person back to the first place you entered the river, remember the valve that controls the current? Have them man that valve and keep the current off, while everyone else navigates through the river avoiding the spikes. Through the current and spike filled river are two passages, one, the first, is opened by a valve. It is a wall that is behind a fan, which will drop when the nearby valve is turned. Inside is a locked chest that cannot be picked. You do not have the key for this yet, so pass it up.

The second is also through a fan, at the top of it is a group of 6-8 gnolls, the horn and a glittering pile of treasure. (if you spoke to daggertooth a second time, there will be one dead gnoll and a gold key on the ground.) Grab the horn and the key. If you don’t have a key on the floor, you will have to search the trasure pile to get it. The treasure is coated in a cursed poison, much like a poison version of mummy rot. Now you can swim all the way around and go through for that first passage and the locked chest.

Back up over the maze and down to the river, this time into the side passage with the horn-locked door. Move through, fight your way down the hall and clear it. You must clear it to advance. Then shrine up and head into the last fight. If you still have Harza in there, surround him and take him out first, or he will heal the others. Defeat them and go announce your uberness to Jorgundal.

End Reward: standard loot choice